imported post
I justemailed a "letter to the editor" to my local newspaper, The Bufallo RiverReview.
It reads,
We’re not smart enough?
Well folks, it appears that a Davidson County Judge thinks that Tennesseans are too stupid to be able to distinguish between a "bar" and a "restaurant" that serves alcohol. If you'll recall, back on July 14 of this year, a new law went into effect that allows holders of a TN Handgun Carry Permit (HCP) to carry their self-defense sidearm’s into restaurants that serve alcohol. This new statute was actually an amendment to the gun laws that forbid firearms in establishments that serve booze, making an exception for persons holding a valid HCP. On Friday Nov. 20, Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman claimed the new law was "fraught with ambiguity" and "unconstitutionally vague". Her ruling strikes down the new law.
The language in the new statute, clearly "defines" a "restaurant" that serves alcohol to be "an establishment that serves food at least once a day for at least 5 days a week and whose prominent purpose is to serve food". Would the Hitching Rail or Cadillac Lounge (local beer joints) fit this description? From what I've been told about these places, no way. Think Texas Roadhouse, Logan's, or O'Charlie's, they would. How hard is that to figure out. If it's a place where you could take the whole family (including the kids) to dine, it most likely fits the definition.
Legislators have already promised to re-write the statutes to clear up any "ambiguities" and get it passed again ASAP. It appears that Chancellor Bonnyman based her ruling on semantics, and not public policy of the issue.
It should be noted that the law has been in effect for 4 months. So far, there has been no reports of shootings in a restaurant that serves alcohol, by HCP holders, as was predicted by the plaintiff’s, before the law went into effect.
Jerry Morris
Lobelville, TN
HCP holder
I'll let ya know if they publish it.